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The painful condition where the contents of the stomach want to flow back the way they came to cause heartburn is something we may all have experienced in our lives: it is called acid reflux. It has many names but the symptoms are generally the same and it is a disorder of the gastrointestinal tract.

The stomach uses hydrochloric acid to digest the food and when this tries to escape the stomach up the esophagus. Each of us uses hydrochloric acid in our gut to breakdown the food we eat and ideally that is where it should stay. With this condition, acid in the stomach tries to escape up the food pathways and this is the reason for the burning pain.

When food enters your stomach, a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter opens to allow food into the stomach which normally remains closed so that stomach food and acid do not flow back up into your esophagus area.

You may also hear the name gastro esophageal reflux disorder, which is its full title or sometimes abbreviated to GERD. Though the root causes are often unclear, perhaps the most prevalent acid reflux cause is a poor diet. Still the volume of food that is consumed in any one sitting can also contributes because the digestive system becomes overwhelmed.

Eating large amounts of food at any meal can put a lot of pressure on your abdominal walls. Something has to give; this being the acid which returns or refluxes back up the esophagus bringing with it the very unpleasant heartburn. By lessening the amount of work the stomach has to do at any one time should reduce the instances of heartburn.

If this is a problem you have to live with then you should eat smaller meals during the day which will help the situation. The importance of your stomachs health cannot be underestimated for long term good health. This is because the stomach is not only responsible for breaking down our food but also for preparing this food to be converted to specific nutrients that every person needs.

The use of readily available, anti-acid drugs is not the long term answer. These can create additional nutritional deficiencies and disease that a doctor may have a problem when diagnosing the cause. It may take a while but the best solution is to make adjustments to your drinking and eating habits which may have caused the acid reflux condition, the idea is not to overload your stomach, which will give it time to recover. It may take a while but if the number of times you experience heartburn reduces, you may be able to enjoy some of the foods you stopped eating, all the while remaining conscious of the need to take things slowly and not place stress on your stomach again.

Changes in lifestyle are generally all that is required to make a big difference to your life. This is all possible if you want the heartburn problem to ease. Determination on your part to reduce the number of episodes of acid reflux is all that is required. It really is a decision only you can make!